New Delhi: Leading NRI (Non-Resident Indian) industrialist Lord Swraj Paul today (Feb 15, 2004) cautioned that economic progress alone will not make India a developed nation and there was still much to be done in areas like basic infrastructure, child development and gender equality.

"We must remember that economic progress alone will not make us a developed nation...There is still much to do," Lord Paul, an ambassador for British business, said while addressing the Centre for Development Policy and Management.

Speaking on the theme, "India 2020-Issues and Prospects", he said 30 per cent of Indian children are still without primary education, which is very perturbing and unacceptable, though it was delightful that the Vajpayee Government had made primary education a fundamental right.

The recent election of three women Chief Ministers and one-third of the three million officials elected in local bodies being women, is a tribute to the progress being made in breaking down the gender barriers, he said, adding however there is still more work to be done to narrow the gender equality gap and improve the lives of women.

Paul, who is the Chairman of the Caparo Group, said there was a general consensus that India is making good progress, and there was confidence that it was on the right path to find solutions to its problems.

"Thus India is on its way to achieving its status as a developed nation," he said.

He referred to the "niggling problem" of Kashmir and appreciated India and Pakistan's decision to hold talks in Islamabad from tomorrow.

"I admire the statesmanship of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and applaud his courage and perseverance. I congratulate President Pervez Musharraf for responding to it. I wish them great success," he said.

The success of these talks, he said, would enable India to be a true participant in the international political agenda, where it should play a much bigger role for the sake of a better and peaceful world.

On the economic situation in the country, he said India is making significant efforts in taking care of its debt and fiscal deficit which have been worrisome for a long time.